


WAYWARD

by CommedianFlag



Category: Hiveswap, Homestuck
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Homestuck - Freeform, Humanstuck, M/M, Non-Consensual, Sadstuck, Self Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, hiveswap - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 12:53:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19273735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommedianFlag/pseuds/CommedianFlag
Summary: An AU Humanstuck novel~Outcast Kankri Vantas, and his brother Karkat, have had it hard growing up. Surrounded by the opioid epidemic, the two brothers find themselves in a constant battle of drugs and mental health issues. When threatened to be sent to a facility for troubled  youths, the boys meet with a group of friends, and together, they embark on an adventure to recovery, love, and hardship.Note: All Homestuck characters belong to Andrew Hussie. Terezi isn't blind but has sight problems.





	1. Empty

He glided through the halls of Alternia High, colliding into everyone at a glance. His coffee, after he forgot to put a cardboard wrap around the cup, was burning his hands. Occasionally it would spill if someone bumped him with enough force, and he would flinch at the tight, hot sting.

 

Kankri's eyes, coming close to shutting, suddenly widened when he got to his locker. The lock was there alright, but something was wrong.

The lock had been cracked open, left on the hook, with the locker door hanging slightly ajar.

Again.

This was possibly the fifth time this year he had come into contact with it, and he still didn't know what was going on. He opened the door and let out a breath when he saw his locker had been once again, completely emptied.

Whoever was behind this was in for the lecture of their life.

 

His eyes failed him again, and this time he felt himself holding on to his locker for dear life, his hands on the metal shelf inside. Surviving the rest of the day meant a hassle.


	2. Pools

Throbbing wrists continued to sting as Kankri stood in front of the bathroom sink. The cracked glass from where his brother Karkat had once thrown a hairbrush reflected back a sickly face. He dug the razor deeper into his skin, the five-blade disposable not sufficing to his expectations. They left his wrist raw, and only slightly torn. He moved it quicker, and quicker, until he could no longer see what he was doing. The motions were so fast, and the sensation had not yet set in.

He wasn't upset.

In fact, he didn't feel anything at all in that instant. His body was only echoing the motions.

 

When he pulled away, carelessly tossing the razor into the sink, the sharpness set in.

Blood curled around his arm and dripped onto the worn, white tiled floor.

He blinked, watching it leak from his arm. He was supposed to be careful, as his blood didn't clot correctly. The entire Vantas family on his Dad's side had a blood mutation, and his father would freak out if he even had a minor scrape.

 

Kankri wet a towel and dabbed at his arm, flinching at the sting that came seemingly just before the towel even touched him.

 

He left the wet towel on him and rolled down his sleeve. He cleaned up the blood on the floor, and opened the bathroom door. A small dark hallway with a single light at the end stood in front of him. He stumbled out, and towards his bedroom, the scent of his cinnamon candle wafting through the dark.

His bedroom was cluttered, but organized in such a fashion, that he could find exactly what he was looking for. A fire place cackled, flames licking the brick wall. The shadows danced on the ceiling, illuminating a path of light.

He sat on his bed, eyes watering and tears falling down his cheeks, sticking his dark hair in his eyes.

 

He didn't remember when he got like this.

 

 

Everything used to be different, better.

However it seemed to start when his father and mother divorced. He knew that for sure. And it was just little things. No appetite, no hopes, no excitement.

He sat on the floor of his room that day. He remembered everything that occurred between he and his own mother up until that point.

His father turned to drugs after meeting a new woman. She had since left him, and now, the entire world shifted into a skewed shadow of itself.

 

 

He prepared himself for another restless night, and curled up in his bed, alone.

Tomorrow, he would be presenting his new speech for Speech and Debate. It was best to attempt rest.


	3. Run In

The trees shook with the wind. He tucked his crimson scarf into his coat and shifted through the dense woods. The soles of his shoes crunched the orange leafs, and his nose grew raw from the dry air.

The sky was an indigo blanket, stars peeping from behind the fabricated clouds.

Kankri held his coat closer to his body as he stopped by a rundown 711, going inside and heading straight for the coffee. He put the cup beneath the cappuccino option, and watched the light liquid squirt into his cup.

 

"Kankri?" He jumped at the sound of his name, spinning around to come face to face with Aranea Serket. Vriska was near her, roaming the isles.

 

This wasn't the first time he had run into them, being they were something of neighbors. They lived on the nicer side of his street.

 

"Oh, hello Aranea." He murmured. She gave him a look, before her eyes widened at a sight behind him. He gasped, remembering his coffee. It had now since overfilled, the liquid leaking out from the top and into the metal bars below. He let out a sigh of annoyance before grabbing the napkins beside the machine and dabbing the cup.

 

"How is Karkat?" She asked, stepping closer. "I haven't seen him at school for over a week now."

 

"He is fine. Now, Aranea, don't you think it to be just a little impertinent asking such a question?"

He slapped the lid on his drink and walked towards the counter, hoping she wouldn't follow.

 

"Really? You dive headfirst into problems you don't belong to, to people you don't even know." She responded, walking with him.

 

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Kankri asked, this time turning to look her in the eyes. She seemed off put by this comment, but only rolled her eyes in response.

 

"You want me to leave so you can buy your cancer sticks in peace."

At this, he felt his face grow hot.

 

"I don't smoke-"

 

"I saw you smoking two days ago Kankri."

 

He glared at her, and she remained unphased by this. He didn't know why she of all people tried so hard at being his friend. It was creepy at times. She didn't give him even a second look before his Dad was arrested a few months ago for possession.

 

"Well then, it wasn't me. Now I'd respect it if you would show yourself out of my business." He set his coffee on the counter and pulled out a wad of one dollar bills. The look on her face was far from patient. She clenched her eyebrows together and ran her fingers through her dark hair.

 

"Fine then. Whatever you say Kankri."

She went back to meet Vriska, who was making a slushee. When he was sure she was away, he pointed to the cigarettes he wanted, watching the cashier smirk to himself.

 

Then, he was out of there. Marching down the street and back to his house. He pulled out his lighter, attempting to hide the light that exploded from within the dark. Holding it to the cigarette in his mouth, he inhaled, the nicotine rushing to patch any unwanted feelings from within him.

 

Karkat had started smoking as well, and in unhealthy amounts. He went through nearly a pack a day, and rebelled against their fathers "authority".

 

The sky had seemingly sucked in the stars, and was emitting only a faint glow from the moon, leaving the ancient street lights to make up for its lack. Honey dripped patches of luminosity lustered the ground as he walked on. Their house was down a street with no street lights, save for the one clear at the end of the road. He hated walking in the dark, his stomach churning at the thought of someone loitering in the shadows, waiting to attack. His shoes crunched the leafs below him. It was mid fall, the school year having only just begun. He'd been a straight A student prior to the end of last year, when everything (to put it lightly) went to complete shit. His grades were suffering, and on the off chance he actually went to school, he would fail to turn in any of the assignments presented. It was incredibly embarrassing, however he did a good job at hiding his otherwise incompetent current nature from other students.

He quit going to school when he stressed he'd missed too much, so he'd just stay home and miss more, whilst an ever growing pang of regret burbled from within his stomach.

 

Karkat was worse, he'd never go to school, when he did he'd just skip, and though being incredibly smart, he would get suspended often.

 

 

 

 

He reached his house, a broken down bright red home with over 100 years under its belt. The front porch was caving in, making a dramatic slope on the left side. He could see his shattered window from where he stood, with the duck tape over the hole. Karkat's room had a dark blanket over the window to block out all of the sunlight. At the very top was the attic. It's window was also busted, but had wrapping around it to keep the air from getting in.

 

He stepped up on the cement stairs and took another drag from his cigarette before dropping and stepping on it. The door opened from behind him, and out stepped Karkat, dark circles lining the rims below his bloodshot eyes. It almost looked like he had been crying had he not cracked a smile and giggled at nothing.

 

"What?" Kankri asked, knowing fully well what it was.

 

"Oh I was just wondering where you went, Dad said you were grounded moron, you can't leave the house." Karkat responded. He pulled out a cigarette, holding it to his mouth and lighting it. The front of it glew as he inhaled, simmering down as a cloud of smoke circled Karkat’s head.

“Mom walked out again today.”

 

Kankri sighed.

“I see. Well Karkat, you should really watch how many cig-“

 

“Nope.”

 

“Nope?”

 

“Yeah. Nope. Don’t even try to lecture me right now, it’s he middle of the night, I have a headache, and I don’t need your speech canon to blow up in my comfort zone right now.”

 

“Karkat, I wasn’t going to lecture you, I was just going to say-“

 

“Kankri.”

 

“That you should watch your cigarette intake, you’ve been smoking an obsessive amount and you’re only seventeen, I can’t keep going in there and buying three packs a day.”

 

“I don’t smoke that much and you know it, now leave me alone.” He grumbled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His room was silent when he crawled on the bed and slipped his legs under the red sheets. He rested his head against his pillow and shut his eyes, allowing for sleep to carry him into its soft arms.


End file.
